Gucci Mane Opens Up About The Battle That Almost Consumed Him

Behind the diamond chains and chart-topping hits, Gucci Mane was fighting a battle few knew about, one that nearly broke him.

The rapper has revealed his long-secret struggle with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, shedding light on years of chaos, confusion, and courage.

Now, with the love of his wife, Keyshia Ka'oir, he’s telling the story on his own terms.

Gucci Mane has never shied away from his past, but his new memoir, "Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man," marks his most personal revelation yet.

For the first time, the Atlanta rapper opened up about being diagnosed with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, two conditions that shaped much of his turbulent journey through fame, addiction, and redemption.

During an emotional interview with "The Breakfast Club" on October 20, Gucci and his wife, Keyshia Ka’oir, reflected on the dark days that preceded his healing.

Ka’oir, 40, explained how she learned to recognize when an episode was coming on.

“I have a system,” she said per PEOPLE. “I take his apps off his phone. First thing I do, I delete Instagram. I delete everything. Even if I gotta change his password, I’m changing it because I don’t need the public to know he’s having an episode.”

She added, “I control that. You’re not going on Instagram, you’re not going on Twitter, it’s deleted. I control everything at home. Now, before the episodes come, I catch it. That’s why he hasn’t had another one. How you catch it is he doesn’t speak to you, he wants to be left alone, he don’t eat, he does not sleep. Text messages, there’s a period after each word.”

For Gucci, those episodes felt like stepping into another dimension. He explained that he would feel like he was in a "psychosis" or a "warped world" and heard voices within, which made him feel people were against him.

When those moments struck, Ka’oir shifted into what she called “mother mode.”

She took control, not just of the situation, but of the home, the atmosphere, and the emotional space Gucci Mane needed to survive.

“It was really, really bad,” she recalled. “It’s really sad because you’re seeing someone you don’t know. He would say things that were so mean and disrespectful, but I had to remind myself that I’m not talking to Gucci.”

Her patience and discipline became his lifeline.

Ka’oir learned that compassion sometimes meant setting boundaries, managing his schedule, deleting social media, and protecting his peace from public scrutiny.

Gucci Mane’s journey toward healing hit a crucial turning point in 2020.

The world was deep in the COVID-19 pandemic, and isolation magnified his struggles. That year, he suffered a mental health episode that forced him to confront his condition head-on.

“After that, I was like, man, I got to really just hold myself accountable and take care of my health,” he said. “I don’t ever want to have an episode again. If I have to see a therapist, if I have to take medicine… I kinda threw the towel in, like, do what I need to do to get better.”

At the time, Ka’oir was pregnant with their son, and Gucci felt the weight of responsibility pressing harder than ever.

“I don't want to raise a family, and then my mental health is gone. What if I have an episode I can't come back from?” he said. “So I just started to do the work, started seeking the help.”

For someone who built his legacy on toughness, admitting vulnerability wasn’t easy. However, Gucci knew that silence would only make things worse. He started therapy, took prescribed medication, and began identifying his triggers, with substance use and stress being the biggest culprits.

He admitted, “You got to do the work yourself if you want to really get better. People can want it for you, but you still got to want it more than they do.”

His honesty about schizophrenia, a condition that affects how people perceive reality, has opened a new conversation in hip-hop, where mental illness is often misunderstood or dismissed.

According to the Mayo Clinic, schizophrenia can cause hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking that make daily life difficult.

Combined with bipolar disorder, which brings extreme mood swings between mania and depression, the struggle becomes even more complex.